As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday travelled to Kargil to lay the foundation of a power project, his wife Gursharan Kaur visited a 14th-century Buddhist monastery to pray for peace.

"I prayed for world peace. I wanted nothing else," said Gursharan Kaur emerging from the Thiksay monastery, about 18 km from Leh.

"I always had a desire in my mind that there should be peace all around," said Gursharan Kaur. She said she was struck by the "very peaceful atmosphere" and natural beauty of the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir.

"I have never seen mountains like this. The people here are honest and simple and there is no corruption. I wish it was like this everywhere in India," Gursharan told reporters.

The Thiksay monastery was founded by Changsam Sherab Zangpo in the 14th century and is currently home to some 100 monks. One of the most important monasteries of the yellow sect of the Tibetan monks, it is located on a hilltop in the middle of a valley ringed by snow-capped mountains.

Clad in salwar kameez and a black overcoat, she spent about 20 minutes with senior monks, who told her about the history of the monastery.

She later visited the sanctum sanctorum and prayed before a 40-foot statue of the Buddha featuring intricate carving and painted in many colours.

Officials from the Prime Minister's Office sent doctors along with Gursharan to ensure that she did not have any breathing trouble in the high altitude area. Leh is perched at a height of 3,505 meters above sea level.